Writing

How the Pitch Works at Writers’ Conferences

So what is “the pitch”? The pitch is a method to get your foot in the door. The pitch is the sale. The pitch is marketing. The pitch is the close. The pitch is not about writing, really. But, it is about selling your writing, but not so much about what you’ve written, as how you show what you’ve written.

read more

Penetrating Family Mystery Via Memoir

Lori Hart Beninger’s new book explores memories, research, and interviews with family and friends to understand her brother’s life of escalating crime. This intimate memoir profiles the dynamics of an All-American Family in California and the secrets they kept from the middle 1950s to early 1980s.

read more

Drawing In The Reader With The Setting

It used to be that novels would lavishly describe the setting. But with today’s focus on tight pacing, a few details here and there usually have to be enough. Here’s how to make those details count. If you’re writing in close third person point of view, or first person point of view (most novels today […]

read more

The Many Modes Of Third-Person Point Of View

Perspective as a Fiction Storytelling Tool It sometimes seems like there are as many angles to tell a story as there are possibilities in choosing a genre. Let’s narrow it down and explore a classic fiction perspective, third-person point of view (POV). Third-Person Omniscient Omniscient point of view is told from an all-knowing, all-seeing viewpoint. […]

read more
Make Sure Your Facts Fit The Fiction

Make Sure Your Facts Fit The Fiction

Sometimes novelists throw in a word or comment in a story and miss its ramifications, because the author is intent on the big picture-what this smaller picture is leading up to-without giving proper attention to how the small word or comment may fracture the movie in the readers’ minds. Example: A story I am editing […]

read more

Choosing Your Book’s Point of View

Certain reader expectations come with first, second, and third points of view. I noted previously the importance of keeping a consistent perspective in a novel, and I suggested authors use point of view (POV) as a guide in writing and editing their story. If you’re not sure how to pick your story’s point of view, […]

read more

How To Handle Art When You’re Self-Publishing Your Children’s Book

If you’ve taken on the role of the self-publisher and are working on an illustrated children’s book, consider the following tips: Find an illustration style to match your story. There are as many ways to illustrate a book as there are to write it. Look at already published books and see how various illustrators realize […]

read more

The Capitalization Of Spiritual Terms

If you’re writing a spiritual book, refer to the Christian Writer’s Manual of Style, which, like the Chicago Manual of Style, recommends minimal capitalization of religious terms, or “down” style.

read more